Milk crate



March 14, 1961 Filed May 13, 1958 H. REHRIG 2,974,818

MILK CRATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Houston Eefirig BY 4 Z/;5 MATTOR Y5March 14, 1961 H. REHRIG 2,974,818

MILK CRATE Filed May 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Houston fie/2mATTO EYS llnited rates The present invention relates to a crateconstruction and more particularly to a metallic milk crate or the likewherein a rod-plate-rod assembly is utilized.

In the manufacture of metallic milk crates, the side and bottom wallsare frequently fabricated from metallic rod stock and metallic sheet orplate stock is utilized for side rails, corners, name plates and thelike. For example, in my earlier filed US. Patent No. 2,850,199, I havedisclosed a novel crate corner construction wherein a metallic sheetcorner insert is secured to lateral and vertical rod members forming theframework of the crate sides. Also, in my earlier filed U..S. patentapplication Serial No. 631,721, filed December 31, 1956, I havedisclosed a structural assembly and method which also utilizes suchsheet metal inserts secured by the structural rods of a crate or thelike.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of Patent No.2,850,199 and application Serial No. 556,587, filed December 30, 1955and application Serial No. 631,721, filed December 31, 1956.

I have now found that the inventions disclosed and claimed in both ofthe above-identified earlier filed applications are of general utilityand may be utilized in fabricating the crate bottoms as well as thecrate sides and corners. In the specific crate bottom hereinafterdescribed in detail, a hollow side rail is utilized in conjunction witha lower peripheral stacking rail formed of rod stock. The bottom closurewall of the crate is defined by a plurality of longitudinally andtransversely extending rods having terminal portions inserted into thehollow side rail and also having portions adjacent to, but spaced from,the terminal inserted ends secured to the peripheral stacking rail. Theside rail laps the stacking rail, at least partially, and the sheetmetal stock of the hollow side rail is apertured at the points ofjuncture of the bottom rods and the stacking rail rods, and the rods arewelded or otherwise secured through the side rail apertures.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the present invention proposes theformation of a rod-plate-rod assembly for metallic milk crates or thelike wherein a pair of adjacent structural rods are secured together bywelding or the like through an aperture formed in a piece of sheet metalinterposed between the rods. More specifically, the sheet metal isnormally provided an offset portion conforming at least partially tothecontour of one of the rods, and this conforming portion of the sheetmetal is apertured to accommodate rod-to-rod engagement and directwelded attachment of the rods to one another.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention toprovide an improved milk crate utilizing a rod-plate-rod assembly.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of animproved milk crate wherein a pair of angularly disposed structural rodsare secured together in direct abutment through an aperture formed in asheet metal element.

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Yet another important object of the present invention is the provisionof an improved crate structure wherein one or more walls of the crateare defined by angularly related rod-like members having a sheet metalelement interposed therebetween and conforming, at least partially, toone of the members, the element being apertured to accommodate directcontact between the members.

Yet another important object of this invention is the provision of ametallic crate bottom wall wherein a sheet metal side rail has alaterally extending flange partially lapping a rod-like stacking railand a plurality of bottom wall-defining rods traverse the crate bottomand overlie the stacking rail, the side rail flange being apertured toaccommodate contact between the bottom rods and the stacking rail, andthe bottom rods being secured to the stacking rail through theapertures.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the natureof the invention is better understood, the invention consists in thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated and claimed.

On the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a metallic milk crate of thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane 5-5 of Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a sheet metalelement of the illustrated crate;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane 77 of Fig. l;and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the planes8-8 of Fig. 7.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1, reference numeral 10 refers generally to a crate of thepresent invention comprising a lower peripheral stacking rail 1.1 in theform of a rectangular piece of rod stock having its ends butt welded toform an enclosed loop. Superimposed upon the stacking rail 11 is a siderail indicated generally at 12 (Figure 7.)

This side rail 12 is fabricated of sheet metal and is of generallyrectangular outline and comprises an inner upstanding wall 13, asubstantially horizontal top wall 14, an outer vertical wall 15 and atransverse lower or bottom wall 16. The bottom wall is provided with anintegral laterally projecting flange 17 which is arcuate in contour andwhich closely overlies the stacking rail 11. The side rail 12 ispreferably made in four sections, one section extending along each sideof the rectangular crate and each section being substantially identicalin contour to that illustrated in Figure 7 of the drawings.

The crate bottom wall is defined by a plurality of transversely andlongitudinally extending bottom rods 20, the longitudinal rods havingoifset portions 21 elevating the rod ends for alignment with the uppersurface of the stacking rail 11. Intermediate horizontal portions 22 ofthe bottom rods are aligned with the upper surface of the' stacking railand the terminal ends 23 of the rods are oifset further, as at 24, forentry into the interior space 17 defined by the hollow side rail 12.

The intermediate portions 22 of the bottom rods directly contact thestacking rail 11 through apertures 19 formed in the dependent arcuateflange 17 of the side rail. These contacting intermediate portions 22 ofthe bottom rods 20 and the stacking rail 11 are secured together, as at25, by suitable means, as by welding. It

will be noted that the curvature of the arcuate flange 17 of the siderail 12 at least partially laps the exterior surface of the stackingrail 11 with the curvature thereof being suflicient to accommodate thedirect passage of'the bottom rod into intimate contact with the stackinrail 11.

Preferably, this weld 2S uniting the bottom rods 20 and the stackingrail 11 is relied upon to secure the side rails 12 to the stacking rail11 with no other external fastening means being utilized. The aperture19'is of a size correlated with the size of the rod 2% and providesclose clearance therewith so that the rigidity of the structure isenhanced. It will be noted that the side rail wall 13 is notched as at26 to accommodate the entry of the terminal portion 23 of the bottomrods 20 thereinto,

these notches 26 being aligned with the apertures 19.

It will be appreciated that a plurality of bottom rods 20 are utilizedand such rods cooperatively define the crate bottom, the longitudinalrods 20 and the transverse rods 26 being welded to one another at eachpoint of their intersection to define an integrated bottom for thecrate.

As best illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the crate sidewalls are defined by upstanding generally U-shaped rod-like sideelements 30and 31. The elements 30 are positioned adjacent each of thecorners of the crate and are composed'of generally vertically extending,elongated legs 32 joined to one another by upper .bight portions 33. Thelegs 3-2'terminate in laterally offset lower terminal portions 34inserted into the side rails 12 through apertures formed in the topwalls 14 thereof.

These side elements 30, 31 are secured in position by peripheral,generallyhorizontally disposed closed loops of rod stock 35, 36, 37, and38. These closed loops 35-38, inclusive, lend lateralstrength andrigidity to the crate construction and are secured to each of thevertical elements 30 and 31, as by welding.

To protect bottles disposed interiorly of the crate 10 from damageduring handling, sheet metal corner guard elements are provided, suchsheet metal corner elements 40 having a transverse contour illustratedin Figs. 2 and 3 and comprising generally angularly related web portions41 and 42 extending vertically throughout the length of the element 40.

The terminal vertical edges of the portions 41 and 42 are provided withintegrally formed grooves 43 extending throughout the length of thesheet metal corner and of a contour to conform generally to thecylindrical periphery of the rods 32. The grooves 43 of sheet metalelements 40 are provided with vertically aligned apertures 44. Theseapertures are of a size to accommodate contact between the peripheralrods 3537 and the vertical legs 32 of the vertical elements 30, and thecontacting rods 35-37 and the vertical legs 32 are secured together bysuitable means, as by welds 45.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 and :Figs. 4-6, inclusive, this rod-plate-rodassembly may bealso utilized to provide a name plate 50 for the crate.This name plate 50 comprises a sheet metal plate 51 having arcuateterminal portions 52 along both its upper and lower extremities, thesearcuate portions conforming to the periphery of the peripheral rods 36,37 and being provided with apertures 53 through which the peripheralrods 36 and 37 contact the depending legs 32 of the elements 31. Thecontacting legs 32 and elements 36, 37 are secured together by suitablemeans, as by welds 55.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention thus provides a new and improved rodplate-rod assembly whereinrod-like structural elements of the crate are secured to sheet metalelements thereof by the abutment and securing together of the rod-likeelements through the apertures formed in conforming portions of thesheet metal. The rod-like elements may be the bottom rods 20 and thestacking rail 11 or these rod-like elements may be the vertical legs 32of the side members 30 and the peripheral rods 35', 36 and 37. In eitherevent, the abutting rod-like elements are secured together throughapertures formed in the sheet metal elements. Similarly, the sheet metalelements themselves may be the corner elements 40, the name plates 50 orthe side rails 12.

The securing together of the rods through the sheet metal aperturesprevents the necessity of welding the rods to the sheet metal. The lightgauge sheet materials normally employed in the side rails 12, the cornerguards 40 and the name plate 5!} heat up much more rapidly than theheavier metal employed in the rod-like stacking rail, side member orhorizontal member stock, and the application of suflicient heat toprovide a good bond of the rod members to the sheet metal burns thelighter gauge sheet metal. The utilization of a degree of heat which canbe tolerated by the sheet metal does not effect an accurate bond of therod-like members, since they cannot be heated sufliciently. Thus,applicant has provided a new, novel, and highly advantageousrod-plate-rod assembly which may be utilized in fabricating crates orsimilar articles from any combination of rod-like stock and sheet metalstock.

What I claim is:

l. A crate comprising a rectangular bottom member, side walls comprisingvertical rod-like members secured to the bottom member, a corner guardcomprising a body of sheet material having at each side a verticallyextending groove for receiving and overlying each vertical rod-likemember adjacent a corner of the bottom member, said sheet materialhaving an opening extending across each of said grooves, a horizontalrod-like member on the side of the sheet material opposite to thevertical rod-like members, and means directly connecting the verticaland horizontal members through said openmgs.

2. A crate comprising rectangular bottom and side walls, each of saidwalls comprising aplurality of longitudinally and transversely extendingrod-like members welded to each other into a generally rectangular grid,a corner member of sheet material extending longitudinally along acorner edge of said crate, said member having a longitudinally extendinggroove along each side edge thereof for receiving on one side surface ofsaid sheet material a rod-like member extending longitudinally along theside of the respective walls intersecting at said corner edge, saidsheetmaterial having openings therein extending transversely across each ofsaid grooves, transversely extending rod-like members ofeach of saidrespective walls lying against the other side surfaceof said sheet andextending across said openings, and a weld disposed within each ofsaidopenings securing the longitudinal rod-like members in both of saidgrooves to each transverse rod member overlying an opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,319,455 Hardman May 18, 1943 2,375,302 Karelius May 8, 1945

